


Love’s Bitter Like Coffee

by BoydTheReaver



Category: Catherine (Video Game), Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternately Named Protagonist, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Shinobu Hattori, True Katherine Ending, True Lovers Ending, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 09:43:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12430143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoydTheReaver/pseuds/BoydTheReaver
Summary: After having her heart broken for the first time in centuries, a woman with a timeless body drowns her sorrows at Café Leblanc.





	Love’s Bitter Like Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> I personally blame me playing Catherine on my PS3 for this. XD

Shinobu Hattori always _hated_ working late shifts.

Then again, the more the delinquent thought about it, the more he realized that nobody was to blame but himself… well, and Futaba, too. With business surprisingly low as of late, it was Futaba who suggested that Sojiro increased the hours to 10 PM, rather innocently claiming how “NPCs will come running!” As ludicrous as the idea was, Sojiro realized it wasn’t actually a bad idea. That’s where the teen on probation found himself in now: when he wasn’t hanging out with his friends and wasn’t stealing the hearts of corrupt authority, here he was, wasting two hours of his life filling in for Sojiro as he could be “trusted in his absence.”

_*bzzt-bzzt-bzzt*_

Sometimes, he _really_ hated his family. But sometimes, as a certain text reminded him, he loved his family – and girlfriend – to bits.

 **HoneyOTU:** hey, u gonna be safe at nite, right?

 **HoneyOTU:** don’t 4get that were playing smash bros on the wii u 2morrow!! o(≧∇≦o)

 **Shinobu Hattori:** Don’t worry, I won’t.

 **Shinobu Hattori:** Love you, Futaba. ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

 **HoneyOTU:** i luv you too! (⺣◡⺣)♡*

 **HoneyOTU:** stay safe!!

Shinobu chuckled to himself as he shook his head. Though he and Futaba have only been dating for a month since September, the young couple was as happy and joyous as ever. One would think that they’ve been in love too quickly, but given all the stuff they went through together, their love for each other was virtually undeniable. And given the mess with Okumura and the Conspiracy, he knew that some optimism was needed more than ever.

He was so fixated on his phone that he didn’t notice the door creak open.

“Um, excuse me… you’re not closed, are you?”

Shinobu blinked upon seeing a _gorgeous_ woman right in front of him. She was definitely not Asian in the slightest, as white skin, blue eyes and curly blonde hair only further accentuated her foreign nature. She spoke excellent Japanese too, but he was so interested in her bustline and _very_ visible legs to notice.

“Um…” Shinobu took a quick glance at the clock. _9:10. Damn._

“N-No, we aren’t closed,” Shinobu smiled. “Do you want some coffee and curry?”

“Really?” The busty Caucasian jumped for joy. “Whoo-hoo! I’ll be happy to have your best!”

Shinobu wasted no time in prepping her meal. By the time a few good minutes have passed, Shinobu handed out coffee and curry to the bubbly, young woman. But for some inexplicable reason, her earlier enthusiasm seemed to be _fake…_ the more she ate at her food, the less chatty she became. And a clear indicator that _something_ was up was the young girl taking out a flask hidden in her… _bosom…_ and proceeded to poor the alcoholic contents in the coffee.

Shinobu knew that _something_ was up, and her frown told everything.

“Hey, um…” Shinobu muttered. “You’ve been silent for a while. What’s up?”

The woman didn’t really speak. Drearily, she sighed to herself a shook her head.

“Um… Miss – “

“Catherine.”

“Catherine.” The foreign name rolled a bit awkwardly on Shinobu. “You’re from America?”

Catherine, rather surprisingly, had a good, light-hearted laugh from that. “You can say that. Where I’m from, it’s a lot more… how do you Japanese say it? Chaotic? Rebellious?”

“Well, American’s always valued their freedom.”

“Not even that, I’m from somewhere a bit… well, I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” Catherine laughed to herself. “But yeah. I usually work in America, and I guess you can say I live there.”

Catherine sighed to herself, but before long, Shinobu began noticing an Asian flush on the Caucasian woman, something that took the delinquent by surprise.

Was there something up with this woman?

“Hey, tell me,” Catherine was still coherent, but she clearly put some _heavy_ liquor in her coffee; she was quite intoxicated. “Have you ever found love?”

Well. That’s certainly being put on the spot.

“Um… yeah.” Shinobu was less stumbling his words less because his relationship with Futaba wasn’t genuine, but how _brazen_ her question was. “I guess you can say you have a girlfriend. Cute, red-hair, glasses. Major nerd and absolutely adorable too.”

Catherine gave a light giggle. “Oh, you’re lucky you managed to find somebody like that in your short lifetime. Four centuries of my life have gone on and I didn’t even find _anyone_ whom I could respect.”

Wait, _what?_

“I-I’m sorry?” Shinobu stuttered. “Catherine, did you say – “

“Can you let me finish? Or are you going to throw me out because I’m more than I seem?”

If Shinobu didn’t have the Metaverse and all other manners of supernatural elements to contend to, he would’ve chalked the idea of Catherine being 400 years old as the work of the liquor. But it still wasn’t even _the_ strangest thing he’s ever heard, so patiently, he gave a brief motion to the intoxicated girl.

“…go on.”

“Point is, I’ve met tons of men who are utterly _useless.”_ Catherine drolled on, still intoxicated. “I’ve had hundreds – maybe _thousands,_ I dunno – of humans drool over me, and all of them were worthless. And I was 400 years old too, goddamnit! I was barely legal by demon years!”

At this point, Shinobu was too tired to entertain the possibility to this woman being a succubus. “…so, did you find any love?”

Catherine paused. Then she laughed to herself, her voice hinting at bitterness.

“…once.”

“Once?”

Silence. Then Catherine spoke.

“…Vincent Brooks. Born in Morrisville, Florida, United States. Born on February 14th, 1979. I met him in April 2011, and I was sent to test him on whether he’d betray his girlfriend.”

“So… you tried to get him to cheat on his girlfriend.”

Silence. Catherine bit her lip.

“That was the plan, anyway.”

“What happened?”

“Well, I slowly grew to respect the man more and more,” Catherine laughed to herself. “Sure, he could be an absolute loser at times, but… I honestly grew to respect him for how he tried to remain faithful. And soon, that respect grew to love, and that love…”

Catherine shook her head. “Well… it was never reciprocated.”

Shinobu adjusted his glasses awkwardly. “I’m… sorry to hear that. That must’ve been tough.”

“It was.” Catherine sighed grimly as she finished the last of her coffee. She simply sat there for a moment’s time, before having her eyes meet Shinobu’s.

“Hey, I want your opinion on something,” Catherine raised her eyebrow. “Do you think the concept of love’s stupid?”

Shinobu raised his eyebrow. “…I’m sorry?”

“Yeah, the question’s kinda stupid, I know,” Catherine smiled weakly. “But… would you consider love a waste of time if you went through what I went through?”

Shinobu paused for a moment. Then he simply shook his head.

“No,” Shinobu nodded resolutely. “I’d still be faithful to the one I loved. And if things didn’t work out between me and Futaba, I’d respect her boundaries, and try to move on. Hopefully find somebody new in the process.”

Catherine seemed genuinely surprised by his answer. The woman proceeded to chuckle and, for the first time in a while, genuinely smile.

“I see,” Catherine grinned happily. “You really are different from everyone else then.”

“Yeah, and I certainly wouldn’t say that you should give up,” Shinobu smiled, before pausing. “What’s Vincent’s wife’s name?”

Catherine noticeable soured in her expression. “…Katherine McBride. With a K. She’s currently pregnant with her third and final child.”

Shinobu looked a bit disturbed. “…and you kept tabs on her without her knowing?”

“Oh, trust me,” Catherine scoffed bitterly. “Being a demon has its benefits.”

A long silence passed for a while before Catherine’s scowling grew into a cheerful smile – nothing plastic or fabricated this time around, but genuine joy made up her face.

“Vincent, I – “

_“Huh?!”_

“V-Vincent?! D-Did I say that out loud?!” Catherine, rather uncharacteristically of the seductive woman, squeaked embarrassedly, turning a deep shade of red. “C-Crap, I’m _really_ sorry, you just look so much like him -- !”

“R-Relax, it’s fine.” Shinobu coughed. “And… my name’s Shinobu. I dunno if we’ll meet again, but… I’d figured you’d know.”

Another short silence passed on. Catherine gave a soft smile, before giggling.

“Thank you, Shinobu,” Catherine smiled, still blushing a bit. “I… feel like I can give this love thing another try.”

“Well, I wish you the best.” Shinobu smiled. “That’ll be 4,800 Yen, by the way.”

“H-Huh? That much?!”

After Catherine paid for her meal, she left just as quickly as she came in. When Shinobu tried asking around about the woman, he realized there was no such “Catherine” that came into the bar, going by the Yongen-Jaya security cameras. Shinobu simply assumed either she was _really_ good at blending in, or there was some truth about her being a 400-year old demon after all.

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Cheers!


End file.
